


Distance

by HipsBeforeHands1987



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Pre-X-Files Revival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 05:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6067432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HipsBeforeHands1987/pseuds/HipsBeforeHands1987





	Distance

Outside Richmond, VA  
3:00am 

One hundred miles. He knew the exact distance between them. He rolled over to stare past the empty side of the bed at the clock. 3am. She would be asleep. One hundred miles away.

He could get to her in an hour and fifteen minutes if he had to. If she were in trouble, it would only be seventy five minutes until he would be with her. Her current line of work was far safer than their last, or their time on the run, but could you ever truly escape the type of danger they seem to be drawn to?

His cell phone sat only six inches from him. It was his connection to the outside world, to her. She asked him not to call for a while. He would obey. He checked to see if the ringer was on, just in case she decided to call him, to reach out, to bridge that lonesome distance. 

———

Georgetown, Washington DC  
3:00am 

3am. If I fall asleep now I can get three solid hours before my alarm goes off. She turns the pillow over to the cold side, the fresh side. 

‘Everything in this apartment is cold and fresh’ she thinks. The smell of new paint and the cold of the hardwood floors make the place seem sterile. She missed the earthy wood smells of her country home. 

A cool breeze blew through the window. ‘I left the window open’ she panics. ‘I am not in the country anymore. Anyone could break in.’

She gets up and closes the window

3:48am

If I fall asleep in the next fifteen minutes I can get a solid two hours of sleep. This was how they slept when they were first on the run, in two hour shifts. They lasted a good six months like this. she could certainly survive a few days. 

‘But its different now, I am alone now.’

———

Outside of Richmond, VA

Three miles. That was all he could tolerate. The first two miles fueled by endurance and muscle memory, the last by a burning desire to run away, away from his newly secluded existence.   
 He wanted to run fast, back in time to a life he shared with the woman he loved, the woman he respected, cherished above all else. How did things end up like this?

He had ran three miles into town and into the post office. No mail. 

“Mr. Mulder, you look like you ran a marathon!” Gary, the old postal worker announced. “Wheres the missus?” 

“Uh, Scully… she's not here.” He said handing the old man an envelope. 

“You enjoy your day now, Mr. Mulder”

He left the post office with nothing more than a nod and a hand wave in acknowledgement.

———

Georgetown, Washington DC

“FIVE MILES!” 

It was only five miles between the hospital and the apartment. Why the hell had it taken her forty five minutes to drive the distance?

“Why the HELL doesn't Georgetown have a metro station?” She screamed, to nobody listening. Pulling up to her building she threw the car into park. She did not miss city traffic. 

It was going to take a hefty serving of wine to erase this day from her memory. One of the children in her experimental study had passed away. She cried in the locker room, then again on the treadmill at the gym. She was done crying and now she was only angry. 

Walking into her apartment she threw the mail on her kitchen table making a direct line to the fridge. 

One frozen lasagna and a bottle of sauvignon blanc later she was feeling a little better. 

She changed into a pair of blue silk shorts and one of his old Oxford University t-shirts. She laid down on “her” side of the bed and for the first time in weeks, fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. 

———

Outside Richmond, VA  
10:00pm

He sat on “his” side of the bed. The heat of his laptop warming his legs. He had refreshed his gmail account three times hoping to find contact. 

There was none. He rested the computer on “her” side of the bed and rolled over hoping sleep would take him. 

Two hours later, he finally drifted off holding his pillow tight against his chest and wishing it was her. 

———

Georgetown, Washington DC  
11:16am

She woke in a groggy haze with a dull thud in her head. Making her way to the bathroom she took one aspirin and started the shower. Washing yesterday away sounded like a good idea. 

After her shower she walked into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee when yesterday’s mail caught her eye. She sorted through the small pile, a few bills, an ikea catalogue, and a white envelope. She would recognize that handwriting anywhere. She opened the letter. 

Scully, 

Well, you told me not to call but you know how I have an affinity for bending the rules. I miss you. This house feels empty without you. Even our friendly neighborhood deer have stopped coming by and eating the bushes out back. I don't like the distance between us. Has DC changed over the years? I don't know what else to say. 

I love you, Scully  
-Mulder  
p.s. order a pizza from Angelo’s and have enough for the both of us. 

 

She couldn't respond. Not yet. She sat in her kitchen allowing silent tears to fall. 

———

2 weeks later  
Outside Richmond, VA

Six miles. He had been running every day and finally made it all the way to the post office and back. He had sent Scully a total of three letters, all as mundane as the last. He included simple things. Things he would have mentioned to her before falling asleep at night or over dinner. He always included a simple ‘I love you’. He did love her, and he missed her. 

Today, he had sent her a package. Inside it was his oldest most worn out FBI Academy t-shirt, a bottle of sand from their first and only vacation, and a video he had ordered off Amazon. 

The video was an extremely phony ‘when aliens attack’ style movie that they had watched on the sci-fi network while snuggled under a big blanked one Saturday night. They had laughed at all the inaccuracies, then made silly, goofy love while he recited the awful dialog. He hoped it would at least earn him a smile. 

———

Georgetown, Washington DC

The thud against her front door made her jump off the couch. It was 2:00pm on a Saturday and she was on her second irish coffee. 

‘You have a problem’ she told herself. 

She walked to her door and opened it finding a package at her feet. 

She carried the box with her to the living room and sat on the couch. Slowly she began opening it. 

1st she pulled out the shirt. Holding it to her face, she inhaled the scent. It smelled like him. She remembered what a comfort this act had been for her during his abduction. Attached to the shirt was a note. 

S,   
Because Im sure you need a spare for the Oxford shirt, especially on laundry day”  
-M

Next, she pulled out the small plastic bottle of sand they had taken from the caribbean during their first and only vacation together. She could remember boarding the shuttle to the airport, frowning at him. 

“Mulder, we didn't even buy one souvenir.” 

He had reached into her bag and pulled out an almost empty bottle of mouth wash. Dumping the last of the minty liquid he bent down and filled the container with sand. 

“Next time I’ll buy you some nice jewelry” he had promised with a kiss. 

Last, she pulled out a DVD ‘Attackers from Space’. She immediately started to laugh. She could remember when he stumbled across this movie on demand and begged her to watch it with him one dreary Saturday night. It had been so cheesy they had spent most of the movie laughing. Afterwards they made love on the couch with Mulder trying to re-enacting the scenes and repeatedly asking her if she wanted to get probed. 

She had tried to act too mature and annoyed by his games but after his attempt to control her thoughts by looking her straight in the eyes without blinking she lost it, erupting into laughter and giving into his game. She forgot how much fun making love to him could be. 

At the bottom of the box was a note. 

“I don’t think I’ve said it nearly enough but I love you. Come home?”

———

Outside Richmond, VA

He had stopped expecting a response from her. Had the box been too much? Did desperation not suit him? She had requested space and yet again, he found a way to disappoint her. 

He went through his nightly routine of counting the miles between them instead of sheep. He was somewhere around mile 57 when he heard a small ding. 

‘What the….’ he thought looking at the clock-12:48am

He noticed a soft glow coming from his night stand. It was his phone which hadn't made a sound in weeks. He had one unread message. 

M,   
Thank you for the package. You know how much I love this shirt. I miss you too.   
S

He smiled, she did not request the grand reunion he was hoping for, but it was enough for now.


End file.
